Whole-Grain Flours

For 100 percent whole-wheat yeast breads, stick to traditional whole-wheat flour milled from hard wheat, which is higher in gluten.

Whole-wheat flour can be substituted for white flour in recipes, but there are a few challenges to achieving the desired result. When tinkering with recipes, begin by replacing half of the white flour with whole-wheat. If that suits your taste, experiment further by increasing the amount of whole-wheat.

To make a total exchange in a quick bread, muffin, cake or cookie recipe, try whole-wheat pastry flour. Milled from soft wheat, it has less gluten-forming potential than regular whole-wheat flour and helps ensure a tender result in delicate baked goods while providing the nutritional benefits of whole grains.

White whole-wheat flour, made from a special variety of white wheat, is light in color and flavor but has the same nutritional properties as regular whole-wheat flour—folate, thiamin, magnesium, vitamins B6 and E, and disease-fighting phytochemicals—as well as five times the dietary fiber of all-purpose flour.

Storage tip: Whole-wheat flours go rancid more quickly than more-processed white flours, so store them in the freezer to keep them fresh.